Talks for de-escalating Gaza tensions

After days of low-intensity shelling and rocket fire between Israel and Gaza, Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Sissi met and focused on de-escalating tensions between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza Strip. Also, talks focused on Egypt’s efforts to maintain calm in the occupied Palestinian territories and international reconstruction support for Gaza. The two leaders met for talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bilateral ties in the first official trip by an Israeli leader to Egypt in a decade.
Analysts said the meeting also likely included discussion over a potential prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, but that there were delays and no clear indicators of a positive development yet.
Israel, with Egypt’s help, has maintained a tight blockade over Gaza since the Palestinian group Hamas began governing the territory in 2007. There have been four wars or assaults on Gaza by Israel, most recently in May.
In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Relations have been cool over the years, but Egypt has played a key role in mediating ceasefires between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza in various rounds of fighting.
Cairo’s mediation efforts in the 11-day assault on the Gaza Strip in May led to a ceasefire. The conflict killed more than 260 Palestinians as well as 13 people in Israel.
Cairo’s invitation to the Israeli prime minister was issued by Abbas Kamel, director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, last month when he met with Bennett in occupied East Jerusalem.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014 and there seems to be little prospect of reviving them. Bennett, a nationalist atop a cross-partisan coalition, opposes Palestinian statehood.
Same analysts don’t believe that there was any real development during this meeting on Egypt’s efforts to move the peace process along between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. They said that this conclusion comes from the fact that Israel does not have a government that will accept the bare minimum of Palestinian demands.